Today's must-read is an open letter from Rev. Jimi Jobin to Pastor H. Wayne Williams, entitled "The Conservative Christian Case for Separation of Church and State." Williams, you may remember, defiantly endorsed a candidate for Governor from his South Dakota pulpit and hopes to challenge the constitutionality of IRS regulations prohibiting tax-exempt churches from electioneering. Jobin is an alum of Liberty University and pastor in Nevada, urging Williams to stand down.
It desecrates our pulpit to yield it to politics. We are called to something higher than to meddle in the affairs of ambitious men. We are not so Holy that we can merely baptize a candidate, and never drink the poison of his words. We do not stump for Senators, we do not campaign for Congressman, we do not preach for Presidents, because the name of Christ is too precious to risk on a common election, no matter how important the issues at stake may seem. We cannot allow Jesus to become a political puppet, a sock on the arm of the statesman. Our role is to translate the values of scripture into the hearts and minds of every American, not to rule those Americans or force our values on them by manipulating the vote. The humble witness of Jesus is weakened when it is communicated through the edicts of rulers rather than the powerful persuasion of changed lives, hearts, and minds. The Kingdom of God cannot be voted into existence.
Read the whole thing.
